[Printer Friendly Version]

Current News

The First Principle of Voluntary Action

I try to follow the work of grantmakers and others who share my concern with the health of civil society in general. One such organization - The Baring Foundation - commissioned a series of essays on the topic of the "independence" of the nonprofit sector in several countries, entitled The First Principle of Voluntary Action (140 page PDF). These essays focus on the matter of independence from government, not from corporate influence. Despite this shortcoming, the historical analysis, principles, and comparisons included here are absolutely critical to any long term vision of civil society. Posted: 6/16/09; 6:29:01 PM #

Migrating to Electronic Media: The State of Print and Electronic Publications in Higher Ed 2009

I've talked for years about the "money on the table" with nonprofit print publications for which there are likely electronic alternatives. As with so many things, it's only with hard times that some organizations are coming around to doing real audits of how much money they could save migrating to online media for various types of communication. But it's happening. In a recent survey on The State of Print and Electronic Publications in Higher Ed 2009 (7 page PDF), migration rates are anywhere from a low of 23% for annual reports to a high of 64% for campus news. Fundraising is still at the low end, at 33%, with people clinging to ever narrower margins in their direct mail programs. Posted: 6/16/09; 6:13:46 PM #

Insights into Participatory Video: A Handbook for the Field

Video is one of these media that can draw us into focusing too much on form and not enough on substance, too much on the product and not enough on relationship-building. But when the whole point of a video project is to encourage people to speak for themselves, then the power of video is aligned with its strategy. That is very much the case with Insight and its free guide: Insights into Participatory Video: A Handbook for the Field (cover page for 129 page PDF). This isn't just another video production guide for nonprofits. It's just as much about community organizing, communication, and development. Posted: 6/16/09; 6:06:37 PM #